wild grapes

This is the wild grape vine that grows in our yard over our play fort. It is huge- the vine is thicker then my arm-. Well this year it produced a bounty of grapes, for us to pick and taste. It has been alot of fun . And provided a fun learning adventure as we took some and made some fresh grape juice.





a plate of fresh picked grapes, they are a bit sour compared to the cultivated ones but they are interesting and fun. its funny how willy-nilly the clusters are compared to cultivated bunches.




Mashing the grapes wrapped in some cloth and squeezing the juice into a ziploc bag, we did get enough for everyone to try a sip. And grape juice is also a great dye , maybe mix in cold cream for face paint?







The wild grape juice was very earthy tasting, and a bit sour. the kids got a kick out of mashing them and trying it. Madeline set a few grapes in the sun to see if they will become raisins. We also think this would make good ink to to write with.Perhaps we will try that this week.

sweet potato bread

wanted to share this with you all a friend sent it to me, and we are making it later today. It is very yummy, i tried hers. We are into baking mode here my favorite thing to do and this is the time of year for it:-)This is so good with a nice cup of tea out on the porch in the afternoon while the baby is napping and the others are playing in the woods across the street. A perfect me time indulgence:-)

Madeline's eggplant dip

Madeline made a yummy roasted eggplant spread on the grill- with a little help from me of course-
. . This is such a simple side to make we make it alot while waiting for dinner , it is such a healthy addition to the meal. Egg plant has a lot of nutritional value to it.
First select a nice eggplant, we get ours fresh from a farm near us so they are firm and nicely colored, then put it on your grill over medium heat- poke a few holes in it - like when baking a potato-. Close the lid then wait till it gets nice and black and wrinkled.



When the skin cracks and is black - mine actually exploded, she forgot to poke hole in it for when it expands, so I got a bit of a surprise, - let it cool a minute then peel off skin and put the flesh in a bowl and mash it up .





Mix in a few other things and that's all that is in it. The roasted eggplant takes on a more distinct flavor, almost a smoky taste.





Madeline gives it a taste and says yummy, and all plated on her serving plate. She did a great job. At 13-14 in a few weeks- she is becoming quite a little cook she is really enjoying experimenting with new foods and adding new flavors together. She has my curiosity about flavors and how they work together.






While a couple of our guest politely tried the eggplant, some where not fans of it. But it is a yummy very earthy flavor, theres nothing processed in it I think folks get so used to all the fat and other stuff they forget what real food tastes like.

we love this dip and do make it quite a bit. Actually the kids are pretty good veggie eaters. we also made a fresh lima bean casserole that week with mushrooms and carrots it was so good. We do get some odd looks when the kids eat this stuff, but I do not keep much if any junkie food in the house so they only get sweets on holidays or on some nights when we do smores on the fire pit.

I believe God gave us one body and we should treat it well. Nourish it with good things- both spiritually and food wise-.When we are nourished we are in a clear state of mind and have the strengh and energy to accomplish any task the Lord asks us to do.

green beans part 2- processing them.

since some of you have asked how we got our beans ready for the freezer here's what we did. I have used this book for a long time its a great resource on how to prep almost anything. She also tells how to get seeds for next year, and how to order those plants you can't get locally, theres recipes, contacts groups and all kinds of information. I highly recommend it its a fun read too. I have taken it to softball games and just set and read it.She gives lots of information on living off the land, collecting rain water raising livestock, making soap, etc etc etc.




we cleaned the beans, I just filled the sink with clean water and gave them a quick rinse and shake, to get off the dirt, and snapped off the ends.




we blanched them in boiling water for three minutes, this stops the beans from decaying. I basically did about two cups at a time, this kept the quantity small enough to work with quickly, and kept us moving along .




after we boiled them for three minutes - no longer-, we scooped them out with a slotted spoon and plunged them into an ice bath- a big bowl with ice water. This stops the cooking process and makes them really nice and green.



after chilling in the ice bath for a couple of minutes we took them out and dried them off a bit on a dish towel , we just rolled them up int he towel and squeezed gently.




we filled our freezer bags, and pressed out the air, then put them in my freezer- also write on them whats in the bag and date processed, they keep about a year or more in the freezer.



I had 10 bags of these when done. I only filled the big freezer bags half way, because that's about a pound and usually what we eat at a time. The smaller size freezes a bit more evenly too. Just make sure you roll the bag up and press the air out.

green bean picking

we spent Friday at a local pick your own farm picking green beans, I love fresh produce and putting it up for the winter. It was a rainy humid afternoon, but, we did okay. The plants where so full a few filled our box pretty quickly. we are heading back this week to gt some more and also some beets and squash to freeze as well.





everybody picking and snacking on the fresh as fresh can be beans, we also picked some flat runner beans by mistake they are next to the green beans and look a lot alike. So we brought a bunch of them home too and they are so yummy to, we made them with a piece of ham for dinner so good.






Our fresh picked beans ready to take home and make into yummy salads, soups, and just plain old dipping in to ranch dressing .



We had a wonderful afternoon picking the green beans, and went home and began the process of freezing them.The kids where tired and hot, and dirty, and wanting to go pick more.

our first harvest:-)

this was our plant two weeks ago, getting big and beautiful, just wanting some sunny days- lots of rain this year-, to get red and juicy .




all red and pretty on the vine, we have had a wet cool summer not what tomatoes like but it has been dry the past two weeks and this guy finally ripened up. The plants have all been double staked cause they are so loaded with green ones they are falling all over.




our first pickins of the season:-) I was very excited, I love fresh from the garden warm tomatoes, so good.The kids are excited too, they have been the ones weeding and picking off the bugs, so its nice to get a result, and a yummy one at that.



I know its a very small harvest but its a start we have lot of green tomatoes on the vines so we should be over run with them soon, I am hoping to make some homemade salsa with them. This one is going to be sliced up and will be a nice little snack this afternoon.

Now if only my squash would do something seriously lots of yellow flowers not a single squash or zucchini.Oh well , maybe since its warmer they will get pollinated and we will get a few, I love making fresh zucchini bread, and having fresh spaghetti squash,